Carla Loon Leader - Education Lawyer for Children

06/04/2026

This one deserves a civil rights victory lap.

In special education due process, districts sometimes use a 10-day offer to create pressure.

The basic rule is this: if the district makes a settlement offer more than 10 days before hearing, and the parents reject it, the district may later argue the parents cannot recover attorney fees after that offer unless they “beat the offer” at hearing.

That rule is supposed to encourage fair settlement.

But here is the game.

A district offers the parents some of what they desperately need for their child, but offers a laughably low amount for attorney fees.

That puts the parent in an impossible position:

Take the deal and eat the legal fees or leave your attorney unpaid.

Or keep fighting and let the district argue later that you were unreasonable.

Courts are starting to call this what it is.

In Rawlings v. District of Columbia, the district offered only $6,000 in attorney fees. The parent rejected it and ultimately received fewer services than the district had offered, but the court still awarded $71,545.10 to cover legal fees.

In A.P. and K.P. v. Clover Park School District, the district offered only $5,000 in attorney fees. The parents received slightly fewer service hours than the district had offered, but the court still awarded $167,286.71 to cover legal fees.

That is exactly as it should be.

An offer is not reasonable just because it includes services for the child while quietly trying to starve out the attorney who made that relief possible.

Parents should not be forced to choose between getting help for their child and leaving their attorney holding the bag.

And districts should not be allowed to use lowball fee offers to divide parents from their lawyers, to punish attorneys for taking on IDEA cases, or to make enforcement financially impossible for ordinary families.

If districts want to settle early, they can make real offers.

Not tactical offers that use attorney fees as a weapon.

Because fee shifting exists for a reason: civil rights mean very little if only wealthy families can afford to enforce them.

Rawlings v. District of Columbia, No. 1:24-cv-02122 (D.D.C. May 19, 2025).

A.P. and K.P., Parents of I.P. v. Clover Park School District, No. 25-cv-5200-BJR (W.D. Wash. June 1, 2026).

06/03/2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FIRST-GRADE STUDENT WITH TYPE 1 DIABETES FILES FEDERAL DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT AGAINST OHIO CHARTER SCHOOL

CINCINNATI, OHIO — A federal civil rights lawsuit filed yesterday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio alleges that Hamilton County Math & Science Academy, a public charter school, unlawfully excluded a first-grade student from school after he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of A.J., a young student who attended Hamilton County Math & Science Academy during the 2025-2026 school year. According to the complaint, A.J. was hospitalized in March 2026 following a medical emergency and was subsequently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

The lawsuit alleges that after A.J.'s diagnosis, school officials refused to permit him to return to school, failed to timely implement accommodations, ignored repeated communications from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and excluded him from school for the remainder of his first-grade year.

According to the complaint, A.J.'s mother and medical providers repeatedly informed the school that A.J. could safely attend school with reasonable accommodations and offered training, consultation, and ongoing support regarding diabetes management. The complaint alleges that rather than providing the routine diabetes-related assistance necessary to allow A.J. to attend school, the school delayed the Section 504 process, failed to designate and train personnel to assist A.J., and ultimately excluded him from school for the remainder of first grade.
The lawsuit further alleges that the school threatened truancy proceedings against the family despite simultaneously refusing to allow A.J. to return to school and failing to implement accommodations that would have allowed him to safely attend.

The lawsuit was filed by attorneys Carla Loon Leader of Cincinnati and Rachel E. Barr and E. Brooke Hardin of the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati who serve as co-counsel for the family.

"This case is about a six-year-old child who wanted to go back to school after a life-changing medical diagnosis and a school that refused to do what was necessary to let him return," said Carla Leader, counsel for the family. "Children with Type 1 diabetes attend schools throughout Ohio every day with routine supports and accommodations. The law requires schools to educate students with disabilities, not exclude them when accommodations become necessary.

Publicly funded schools cannot pick and choose which children they are willing to educate. When a school accepts public dollars, it accepts the responsibility to educate all students, including students with disabilities. A.J. and his family should not have been forced to leave their school simply because he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

This case is bigger than one family. It raises important questions about whether children with disabilities truly have equal access to Ohio's publicly funded schools. Families should be able to choose a school because it is the best fit for their child, not because their child's disability makes attendance impossible at another publicly funded school."

The complaint alleges violations of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The family seeks compensatory damages, declaratory relief, attorneys' fees, and other relief authorized by law.

Because the case involves a minor child, the lawsuit identifies the student and parent by initials.

The case is styled A.J., et al. v. Hamilton County Math & Science Academy and is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Media Contact:
Carla L. Leader
Counsel for Plaintiffs
(513) 502-3299
[email protected]

05/31/2026

Ohio families, businesses, and communities need leaders who value, support and fund public schools for all students.

05/30/2026

Judge Leland asked the question Ohio taxpayers deserve to have answered: Why are wealthy families being subsidized with public tax dollars while public schools are underfunded?

05/25/2026

Following oral arguments at the 10th District Court of Appeals, judges openly questioned why taxpayers are subsidizing private tuition while public classrooms face severe budget shortfalls.
https://thevwindependent.com/news/2026/05/14/judges-question-private-school-vouchers/

05/23/2026

When the state's best argument for school voucher equality is “you're allowed to apply for admission," Ohio's billion-dollar private school subsidy is in trouble.

05/21/2026

FYI - he's talking about family members being paid to be caregivers for their disabled family members who may otherwise become institutionalized, and also recognizes that the caregiver is not able to work outside the home.

Apparent Medicaid fraud in Ohio has exploded under a new program that pays people to hang out with family members.

05/15/2026

Approximately 20% of families have a child who struggles to read.

Most stay quiet.

Not because they do not care.
Because stigma is powerful.
Because schools normalize delay.
Because parents are told to wait.
Because fighting a system every single day is exhausting.

And then there is the small percentage who refuse to accept it.

The parents learning phonemic awareness at midnight.
Paying for tutors they cannot afford.
Reading IEPs and evaluations like law school textbooks.
Documenting. Advocating. Showing up to meetings. Filing complaints. Refusing to let their child disappear inside lowered expectations.

People call them difficult.

What they really are is exhausted.

We see you…

05/11/2026

05/09/2026

How do you show results without funding? Any idiot knows public education needs to be fully funded in order to be effective. And when it's not fully funded, the most vulnerable students are the first to be impacted. Your vote matters.

The future of public education in Ohio looks different depending on who wins the governor's race.

While Democrat Dr. Amy Acton wants to fully fund education so districts can improve, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy said schools need to deliver results first.